AUGUSTA, Ga. -- And now for something completely different: A Masters tournament without a storm cloud in sight, either figuratively or literally.

For two years now, the pristine lawns of Augusta National Golf Club have been turned by spring rains into barnyard ooze, with appropriately bovine odours, just in time for the Masters.

Add to that the mud-slinging that was exchanged between Martha Burk and Hootie Johnson last year with regard to Augusta's men-only membership policy and it clouded the image of perhaps the most revered golf event on the calendar.

DIGNIFIED

The Masters returns in 2004, relaxed and dignified. The membership controversy is far from over but Burk and her followers are keeping a low profile. The sun is shining, the sky cloudless, the azaleas are blooming and the red Georgia clay, which left thousands of pairs of shoes in muddy ruin a year ago, is firm and dry.

Not that there isn't plenty to talk about. It's just that, wonder of wonders, the talk is all about golf. Imagine that.

Most of the players are nervously fascinated about just how the golf course will play, after two years of soft greens and even softer fairways. Two years ago, in an obvious protest against the technological advances that had threatened the golf course's defences, Augusta's tall thinkers added about 300 yards of length. Since then, however, the rains have made it impossible to tell what the effect of the changes will be.

The intent is to make par a respectable score and the expectation is that the changes may have done exactly that. Most certainly, the fairways are hard and fast and yielding a ton of roll. The players will need that roll to allow them to come into the rock-hard greens with short irons, as opposed to mid or long irons, which will not hit and stay.

During a practice round on Sunday, Brad Faxon, not known to be a big hitter, nailed a 340-yard drive on the downhill 10th hole.

"I've never hit a drive that far on that hole," Faxon said. "And I didn't hit that one particularly well. It hit on the downslope and rolled like it's supposed to. I love to see this."

The key, of course, is the speed of the greens. By all accounts they are already fast, but the experienced players in the field know they will get faster by the weekend.

In that case, anything but a wedge will be shrugged off into some difficult spots.

"This year, if it's dry and the wind blows a little, you'll see the true Augusta National come out," 1998 champion Mark O'Meara said. "It will be scary; it will be very tough."

There are plenty of other talking points at the Masters, not the least of which centre upon Arnold Palmer's 50th and last appearance in the starting field. Palmer will play rounds on Thursday and Friday -- it is highly unlikely that he could make the cut for the weekend.

NOSTALGIC WALK

While there will be plenty of better players on the course with him, it's unlikely that any of their galleries will match Arnie's Army as he takes two more nostalgic walks through the holes that made him famous. Or was it the other way around?

Two other galleries will come close to Palmer's in size and each of those two golfers will be the centre of attention for different reasons.

Tiger Woods will be under scrutiny for signs that he can sort out his recent swing problems on his own, while stubbornly resisting sentiment that he should go back to his coach, Butch Harmon. Woods hasn't won a major since the 2002 United States Open.

The other curiosity in the field will be John Daly, returning to Augusta after a one-year absence and playing some of the best golf of his life.

And if, after all those subjects are beaten to death, there is a desire for further discussion, the conversation may just get around to the defending champion.

Mike Weir, who thrilled himself and all of Canada with his playoff victory last year, is relishing an opportunity to become only the fourth player to win back-to-back green jackets.